06 February 2013

2013 World Baseball Classic: Canada

This is the second in a series to introduce everyone to teams
participating in 2013's World Baseball Classic. As this series
progress, you will find all of the articles under this key world: 2013 World Baseball Classic. Previously, we reviewed Previously, we reviewed Australia, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.

As everyone knows, in Canada ice hockey
is king. But Canadians, like Americans and Australians, are an extremely
sporting people, and play all sorts of sports. Baseball is very popular there
and Canada has a long history with the game.

In fact, baseball seems to have evolved
almost in parallel in Canada and the US. Because both countries shared the
British colonial heritage, traditional bat and ball games like rounders were
played on both sides of the border. Although modern baseball as we know it evolved
out of the games played around New York City in the early nineteenth century,
it was very similar to games being played in Canada at the same time. The first
documented playing of a game called 'baseball' was in Beachville, Ontario, in
1838, although as was usual for the era, the rules were quite different from
the modern game. (The game featured five bases and eleven-man lineups, raising
the question of whether they used a fourth outfielder or two shortstops along
with a fourth baseman!) As the game evolved into the modern form we know today,
Canadians quickly adopted it. Throughout the nineteenth century, baseball was
played all over Canada and Canadians often played against US teams.

For geographic, economic, and cultural
reasons, Canada is closely linked with the US, and so Canadian baseball has
always been closely linked with US baseball. Various amateur, independent, and
minor league teams have always existed in Canada. The only major league teams
based outside of the US have been the Montreal Expos (1969-2004) and the
Toronto Blue Jays (1977-present). Surprisingly, there is currently only one
minor league team, the Vancouver Canadians, the Short-Season A affiliate of the
Blue Jays. But there are other independent and semi-professional leagues, so most
Canadians can see adult baseball games in person without making the trek to
Toronto or Vancouver. Also, a second Canadian team is in the mix as the Birmingham Binghamton Mets have been slated to move to Ottawa for the 2014 season.

Professional teams in Canada have
historically suffered from two challenges. The first is climactic - even the
southernmost cities in Canada can suffer from cold Aprils and Octobers, making
a dome (and artificial turf) a necessity for a major league team. Through
scheduling or endurance, minor and independent leagues make do with open
fields. The second challenge has been financial, as the Canadian dollar was
weaker than the US dollar for many years, making it difficult for the Expos and
Blue Jays to compete with rising MLB payrolls. The Canadian dollar now trades
at parity with the US, however, and at least for the moment the Blue Jays are
once again a big payroll team after an offseason of big signings and trades.

In any event, regardless of the fortunes
of professional teams, Canadians continue to follow and play baseball. Children
all play baseball or softball in school and many play in youth leagues and
amateur leagues. Thus there is a constant, though minor, presence of Canadians
in MLB. Canada has produced a number of great players, including historic
greats Tip O'Neill and Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins. More recently, Canadian
stars have included Larry Walker, Matt Stairs, Jason Bay, Ryan Dempster, Justin
Morneau, and Joey Votto.

International
Play History

Canada has seen some modest success in
international baseball competitions. They won a bronze medal at the 2009
amateur Baseball World Cup, and placed fourth in the 2004 Olympics.

Canada played in the first two World
Baseball Classics, and its performance was disappointing, failing to advance
out of the initial round in both tournaments. In 2006, the team went 1-2, with
the lone victory coming against South Africa, and failed to advance to the
second round. Then in 2009, Canada went 0-2.

I saw the 2009 team play in Toronto,
which was a great experience. The first game of the pool was Canada against the
US, and the Rogers Centre was nearly full for the event. There was clearly a
large crowd of Americans who had made the trip up, but the majority of the
crowd was Canadians, and very enthusiastic. Canada played decently. Joey Votto
and Russell Martin had great days, and Jason Bay walked three times but
couldn't get a hit, but Justin Morneau and the rest of the lineup were mostly
ineffective. The crowd roared whenever Matt Stairs came to the plate, but in
this game his trademark all-or-nothing swing produced nothing. In the end the
Canadians kept it close the whole game but fell just short, losing 6-5. On the
whole it was a very good game, as the Canadians had made a good showing against
a superior team, but the crowd was clearly disappointed as it shuffled out of
the Rogers Centre.

And they never shuffled back. For the
rest of the week the stadium felt empty. Less than 13,000 showed up to see
Canada play Italy, and the rest of the home crowd were probably wise to stay
away. Morneau and Bay hit well, but the rest of the lineup went down in order
inning after inning, baffled by Italian-American hurlers Chris Cooper and Jason
Grilli. Meanwhile six Canadian pitchers combined to make Chris Denorfia look
unstoppable, and every one of the Italian starting lineup reached base. Italy
waltzed out with a 6-2 victory, and Canada was eliminated from the tournament
with a whimper.

Because they failed to win a game in
2009, Canada was forced to qualify for this year's tournament. In the qualifying
round, played without major league players since it was held in September of
last year, Canada easily trounced Germany and Britain to win their pool and
qualify for the tournament.

Current
Players

The roster for this year's tournament,
like in previous years, possesses a few bona fide major league stars, backed up
by a host of journeymen and minor leaguers.

Canada has no apparent ace starter. There
is no word yet on whether Ryan Dempster will be available - he is apparently
still weighing whether he wants to participate, but he did not play in 2006 or
2009. Former Oriole Erik Bedard is evidently unavailable because he will be
competing for a roster spot in the Astros' spring training camp. Rich Harden
appears to be in a similar position with a minor league contract with the
Twins. If they fail to secure the services of any of those pitchers, Team
Canada's most experienced major league starting pitcher will be Shawn Hill, who
has made 44 starts in parts of seven seasons, most recently for the Blue Jays,
with a career ERA of 4.69, WHIP of 1.44, and unremarkable strikeout and walk
rates. They may also use minor leaguer starters Chris Leroux and Andrew Albers.

The heart of the lineup is the trio of
Justin Morneau, Joey Votto, and Russell Martin. After his disappointing 2012,
Jason Bay is not participating.Other
major leaguers in the lineup include Brett Lawrie, Michael Saunders, and Pete
Orr.

Morneau is famous as a great hitter, but
in fact has not had a great season since his 2010 was cut short by concussion.
Returning in 2011, he was plagued by neck and shoulder injuries and continued
concussion symptoms. Last season he returned to everyday play, posting
respectable numbers slightly below his career averages.

Joey Votto is probably the greatest
active Canadian hitter, but is not yet on the team's roster. He returned from
knee surgery to play in September, but has not yet been cleared to play in the
WBC. Votto and team officials maintain that his passing of an insurance
physical should be a routine matter. Obviously if caution requires Votto to sit
out the tournament it will be a big blow to Canada's prospects.

Russell Martin, though he is not the
hitter he was in his early years with the Dodgers, has remained a productive
player, compensating for a steady decline in OBP with increased slugging during
his years in New York.

Brett Lawrie had an excellent debut as
the Blue Jays' third baseman at the end of the 2011 season. Playing his first
full season last year, Lawrie's numbers were respectable but not impressive. He
just turned 23 last month, so he has plenty of potential left and should be an
exciting player to watch.

Canada will compete in Pool D with the
USA, Mexico, and Italy. On the whole, this year's team looks a lot like the
2009 team, and Canada's manager Ernie Whitt says that's a good thing. "The
familiarity our players have with one another, and the coaching staff, will be
beneficial in a short tournament like the World Baseball Classic."Who knows: there's always a chance that this
year it won't be so short for them.

Canada went 2-1 in 2006's WBC, beating the U.S. in one of the greatest victories of their international history. Despite sharing the same record as Mexico and the U.S., they didn't advance based on runs for/against.

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